Perry Keyes and Friends - Sydney Opera House (July 25, 2010)

25 July 2010 by Max Easton

The Sydney Opera House hosted Perry Keyes for a night of his most Sydney-centric songs alongside special guests Tim Freedman (The Whitlams), Dave McCormack (Custard) and Bernie Hayes. Soulshine's Max Easton was on the floor to catch it all on a sold out Saturday night at  Circular Quay.

It goes without saying that it's fitting that the Sydney Opera House laid host to a night billed as Perry Keyes' Sydney. Facing off against the Harbour Bridge across Circular Quay in the cold night air is just about as typical of Sydney as you could get for a night of music involving the big city of lights. But the songs that Perry Keyes was singing alongside special guests Tim Freedman, Dave McCormack and Bernie Hayes were in no way typical of the postcard picture painted under the stars outside the Opera House. His songs are of a Sydney far removed from the tourism posters; from Redfern to Newtown via Waterloo, Perry Keyes is a storyteller of a grittier Sydney, of the characters that he grew up alongside or under the light of the TV. Whether that was boxer Jack Johnson, South Sydney's John Sattler or the nameless subject of many of his songs is one thing, the other is the fact that he had assembled an incredible night of music that revelled in the nostalgia of a town that so many call home, but so few really know.

The night began with a slew of rare video footage of Sydney going through puberty. Black and white film of sprawling terraces, the building of the Harbour Bridge and the early days of Redfern's housing efforts highlighted the growth of a city that was never quite comfortable in its shoes; sprawling before it could stabilise, a backdrop to the history of the man of the night, Perry Keyes. Playing tracks from all three of his solo albums with Tim Freedman, Bernie Hayes or Dave McCormack contributing the occasional vocal, Perry and band held a sold out Opera House Studio in the palms of their hands. The band was as tight as you'd ever expect one to be, with three guitars taking on interplayed roles without seams in front of keys, accordion, drums, bass and a toy piano. Roll that alongside some phenomenal vocal touches from Bek-Jean Stewart and his other guests and you've got a fantastically solid platform to tell your stories from; and therein lies Perry Keyes' success. 

The electrifying Dave McCormack entertained as usual with his own song, Inner West Girls, while the humoured L.J. Hill also impressed with Pretty Bird Tree, a song he introduced as being about a tree he used to drink under whilst being chased by coppers, or, with enough wine, where he used to chase them. Keyes brought together some of Sydney's truest characters and most under-rated musicians to form a showcase of sorts, of what the city has to offer from artists bred in an era mostly forgotten.

If the show achieved anything other than deliver nostalgia, it revealed Perry Keyes as a forgotten master of Australian music. As a regular of the Sandringham with the Stolen Holdens in the same era as the Whitlams, it's almost bizarre that they didn't follow the Whitlams to the top, but I'm talking from a vantage point built solidly on hindsight. Whatever the reasons are, Perry Keyes and band have evolved and matured to a level that now holds them in the highest esteem. This year's Johnny Ray's Downtown and shows such as this in its support are evidence of a songwriter writing the stories that he wasn't born into, but grew to tell. With the backdrop of the photos and film of Sydney's characters, places, streets and personality, there was no better place to showcase his talents. This night at the Opera House has showed that Perry Keyes has taken up a place in music that has been, to this date, unfilled; as South Sydney's guitar-driven biographer. And he does a damn fine job of it too.

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